Homes with crawl spaces are very similar to homes with a basement, but with one major difference – the floor is dirt. As if a home had a dirt floor basement, wet crawlspaces can cause odors and serious health issues.

Compared to professional foundation and waterproofing contractors, homeowners are not experienced when it comes to crawl space moisture problems and taking preventative measures to properly waterproof the space. Unfortunately, the effects from dampness and moisture can damage your health, crawl space, above ground living areas and your home's overall structure.

Most homeowners are inexperienced and believe that doors, windows, and vents are responsible for all moisture problems in your home, but that isn't always the case. Factors such as humidity, moisture and wetness in your crawl space are the source and can cause structural problems.

Structural Integrity

Are you having questions or concerns about structural integrity of your home? If you fall into this category, do not fear. Routine examinations can protect your home from structural problems. Below are some signs to look for:

              Uneven floors

              Warped floors

              Cracks in interior walls

              Damaged floor joists

 Uneven floors, caused by moisture in your crawl space, are very common problems among homes. If you believe these describe your situation, make sure to take action immediately with a professional foundation contractor. It's more cost friendly to make small repairs than to wait and be forced to replace an entire foundation.

Mold and Mildew

There are several different forms of mold that can quickly invade your above ground living levels. A majority of the time when a home is occupied with bad smells and odors, it is a sure sign your crawl space has a hidden problem with mold.

A damp environment is perfect for wild animals, insects and pests to thrive making for some extremely unhealthy and destructive conditions. A crawl space that isn't sealed and protected against moisture can develop mold and mildew issues. Black mold and dry rot can even develop!

The best and most effective way to rid your home and crawl space from bad smells and odors is to schedule an appointment with a waterproofing or foundation expert. It is also a good idea to perform routine inspections looking for mold, dry rot or damaged wood. By taking measures to protect your home and crawl space from these elements, you will protect your families health. A waterproofing expert will identify the source of the water intrusion and provide the necessary repairs and sealing the crawlspace.

Solution

The best and most effective way to protect your home from moisture, structural weakening, bad smells and odors is to contact a professional crawl space contractor. A professional foundation contractor will complete an on-site inspection, provide a professional consultation, provide a free estimate and recommend the best and most cost efficient way to solve the problem.  Whether it requires a full crawlspace encapsulation or a simple drainage system you need a solution now. Our experts will also discuss your options and give you plenty of time to make the best decision to remove moisture from your crawl space and help make your home and family healthy again.

In a recent article by Christopher Solomon, Is that crack serious? Foundation problems 101, the seriousness of foundation cracks was addressed. This article spoke to the severe drought that began in Southwest Texas and slowly expanded to cover, Oklahoma City, Wichita and Kansas City. In it's wake homes have settled, cracked and crumbled due to the soil drying out. The article went on to report - "The drought that some are comparing to the Dust Bowl has homes rockin' and rollin' as the parched ground beneath them cracks and settles. Homeowners are watering foundations - to keep their abode in place - and forgetting about their grass"

Being in the industry of foundation repair I have noticed the effects from this most recent drought. As the drought has grown the demand for foundation repair products has grown with it. Calls from foundation repair contractors have expanded in volume, frequency and territory. By watching the phone calls you could see how the drought slowly moved from San Antonio, San Angelo and Lubbock to Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton then slowly towards Oklahoma City and Muskogee followed by Wichita, Emporia and Kansas City. More and more homes have been affected by the drought causing them to settle and crack. The soil has been so devoid of moisture that it and anything set upon it has settled downward at an alarming rate. It has affected slab on grade homes, pier and beam homes and full basement homes with equal abandon.

Solomon goes on to explain "The reason: a black gunbo clay that was brought down during the last Ice Age". It also exists in the Atlanta area and in pockets elsewhere, including St. Louis and Denver. But even bedrock can move. The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that one-quarter of the nation's homes have suffered damage caused by expanding soil". With numbers like this it is easy to see what a serious problem we have throughout the Midwest and beyond. As with any major weather event homeowners are subjected to unscrouplous contractors and bad advice. Be very careful of contractors that are very aggressive or new to he industry. They do not care about your home like you do and will be off to swindle the next homeowner after they have collected your money. The best way to protect yourself and your home is to hire a professional foundation engineer to oversee any and all foundation repairs. Often this expense is not only something that gives you peace of mind but also can save you money by preventing bad contractors from doing more damage.

Foundation cracks are not something that goes away or fixes itself. The severity and cause of the cracks needs to be addressed by a professional foundation repair contractor or professional engineer. Then the right solution can be applied you your home to stabilize, lift or straighten your homes foundation. This is a highly specialized field to requires high quality products, professional training and a company that will stand behind what they do for years to come. This does not mean that the best solution is a written warranty that promises the moon in the large print and penalizes you in the fine print, but a written document provided by the foundation contractor that states he will stand behind his work and uphold his reputation. Dont fall prey to "lifetime warranties" that require arbitration and other tactics of poor contractors. If you have a future problem you need to know that the company will be around and willing to fix any unexpected problems willingly.

Later in the article Solomon goes on to say "Horizontal cracks across the foundation are often serious. Horizontal cracks are caused by hydrostatic pressure - basically, too much water behind the foundation. It pushes on the foundation". "Here's a tip: Look down the outside of your house. Does the home appear to be hanging over the foundation, especially in the middle, as if the home is too big for it's foundation? That's a tell-tale sign." On the other hand, a vertical crack often indicates a more serious problem. Vertical cracks often are indicators of settlement, like what comes during extreme droughts. Is the crack wider at the top than the bottom? If so this is a classic sign of settlement. As the foundation tries to settle the concrete foundation starts cracking and starts "tearing" the wall from the top down. First and second floor windows and doors will start sticking, windows will become harder to open and close and drywall cracks will start popping up. These classic signs are indicators that you need to find professional help immediately. 

One of the advantages of using push piers (resistance piers) for foundation repair is that they use quiet vibration free hydraulic equipment to install the steel resistance piers. All of the installation equipment is highly portable and can be easily transported on the jobsite. After all of the steel push piers are installed and load tested, the structure can be immediately restored or lifted by transferring the load of the home to the piers. There's no time wasted, waiting for concrete to cure, and no soil to remove from the site. A measured factor of safety is verified, as the piers are 100% load tested to a force greater than the actual working load. This all means that you will get verified structural support for many years when you require steel push piers to be used on your home’s foundation.

Remember to always consult with an independent professional engineer before starting any structural foundation repairs and these repairs should only be performed by trained foundation repair contractors.

Below, the following steps the typical installation procedure for the largest selling Steel Push Piers.    

  1.  Site survey: Pier placements are located around the structure and the location of underground utilities verified.

2.  Excavation: Small excavations or the entire perimeter is dug for access at each placement location. The space required at the foundation is usually about 3 feet square.

3.  Prep of the foundation: This includes notching the concrete footing to place the push pier bracket under the stem wall, preparing the bearing area under the footing to a smooth and level condition, and adjusting the face of the stem wall to vertical at the point of bracket attachment.

 4.  Bracket Attachment: The steel resistance pier bracket is secured to the footing using anchor bolts. Attachment of the drive stand and the hydraulic cylinder that is used to force the pier pipe into the soil is mounted on the drive stand.

5.  Push Pier Pipe Installation: The steel pier pipe is advanced into the soil using the structure as the reaction force with a 10,000 psi hydraulic pump and cylinder combination. The piers may be installed from outside or inside the structure. Pier installation continues until rock or suitable bearing-strata is encountered below the unstable soil near the surface.

6.  Load Test: Every resistance pier is load tested by increasing the force on the pier to insure the rock or bearing-strata will support a load greater than needed to guarantee a factor of safety. Typically an engineer will determine the load of the structure and the desired factor of safety before the load tests are performed.

7.  Preps for Restoration: Once all push piers have been installed, load tested, and the installation data at each placement recorded; lifting head assemblies and hydraulic lifting rams are placed on the steel piers. The lifting cylinders are connected with one or more manifolds and operated using a hydraulic pump.

8.  Restoration: Under careful supervision, the load is transferred from the existing failing strata under the foundation, to the load tested piers. The structure can be transferred gently and evenly lifted to as close to the original elevation or to the recommendation of the engineer. The nuts at the pier caps are secured at each placement and the lifting equipment is removed.

9.  Clean Up: The soil that was excavated at each steel push pier placement is now replaced and compacted. The site is left clean and neat.

If you have noticed cracks in your drywall, brick or foundation you might need steel push piers to provide structural support foundation repairs. Whether your foundation is concrete block, poured concrete or composed of stone, steel push piers should be your first choice as a foundation repair solution. Foundation repair or structural underpinning projects, with steel push piers, are usually completed in just days, not weeks.

Of the many projects New England Foundation and Stabilization Co. has reviewed and worked on, this small house is on the top of our list for the most severe settlement we have witnessed. Our company had reviewed this project several times under different owners until finally the settlement required repair of the structure or the city would declare it condemned. The entire perimeter of the structure had settled over years, but drastically along the front of the house. In some cases the structure had settled over 12 inches in less than a span of 12 feet. At one time, this neighborhood was a large dump site and the depth of fill in some areas exceeded 80 feet.

Large cracks were somewhat visible from the exterior and interior of the house. However a thin layer of fiberglass coating was parged onto the foundation to hide the deteriorating condition of the foundation to new buyers. The foundation had also rotated out from underneath the house up to 5”.

The interior of the structure also showed every significant sign of settlement in some of the most extreme conditions. From an extreme sloping floor, to sticking doors, floating walls, misaligned windows and frames, and cracked drywall.

The ECP Resistance and Helical Piles proved to be the perfect solution for this house. The Steel Piers are hydraulically pressed piles that fasten to the foundation and advance through the poor bearing soils that allowed the structure to settle. The Helical Piers are small “screw” piles that are torqued through the poor soils into good bearing strata. A total of 20 ECP Model 350 Piers were installed on the inside of the foundation wall. A total of 4 Helical Piles were installed for the new column supports at the beam. The average depth of the ECP Push Piers was 65 feet.

Once all the piers were installed the foundation was lifted using the ECP Resistance Piers. The center beam was also temporarily shored and lifted as we raised the foundation. Due to the concrete condition our lift was limited and a full restoration was not possible. However, in some areas we were able to achieve a lift of 8”. Once the foundation and beam was lifted, new columns were installed on the ECP Helical Piers. The foundation wall was also pushed back in effort to re-straighten the wall.

The owner of the property purchased it in hopes of restoring and flipping the house. His crews removed some areas of the horse hair plaster where cracks had occurred due to the large lift. They then re-plastered and refinished the interior finishes.

After several weeks completing the full renovation, this house was placed on the market. The new owners will be pleased to know that their foundation will no longer sink being guaranteed for 25 years by our manufacturer ECP Steel Pier System and New England Foundation and Stabilization Co.

Much of the Midwest, especially from Kansas City to Dallas has experienced a tremendous drought. The soils have dried out to the point where homes are settling everywhere. Record numbers of foundation are being repaired throughout the Midwest. When there is a spike in any home repairs, whether its roof replacement, basement waterproofing or foundation repairs, bad contractors pop up everywhere. These contractors come in and use cheap methods of repair and move on to the next area as soon as the work dries up.

Not all methods of foundation repair were created equal. In fact, most techniques rely on the very dry, unstable soil for support. When choosing a foundation repair method for your home, you should know what the contractor performing the repair is offering. If they use concrete cylinders, pressed concrete piles, bottle jacks or some other cheap repair method, run far away. If your local contractor uses a steel pier method that is designed and engineered, like the ECP Steel Piers, invite them in and get a written quote for your structural repairs.

High quality steel piers are driven through the soil until they reach bedrock or other load bearing material:

This insures that the structure will not depend on the expansive soils prevalent in Kansas and Texas.

Engineered and designed to last a lifetime:

The steel push pier method is the permanent solution to foundation problems, unlike concrete which may crack over time, steel piers last.

Each steel pier is individually tested to insure integrity:

Performing a synchronized lift or stabilization ensures high capacities and long term support.

Every ECP Steel Pier is mill certified and load tested for superior quality:

This insures that quality is not compromised, and is always superior.

Most projects are finished within a few days:

A typical project lasts no longer than 3-4 days, thanks to fully trained and skilled workers.

On the other hand, concrete pressed pilings or concrete cylinders are cheap and quick. Contractors use unskilled labor and low grade products to get in and out as quickly as possible leaving homeowners with short term fixes that almost always require regular adjustments due to ever changing weather conditions. These precast pressed piling are driven into the soil using bottle jacks and require soil friction for support. This is the same soil that is settling due to the dry weather.

Concrete pressed piles can crack or crumble under the homes load:

Concrete breaks under uneven loads due to misalignment

Precast concrete piles are unable to resist bending moments due to lateral loads:

Segmented piles are only held together by friction or a thin cable

Pressed concrete piles cannot attain sufficient depth:

6” diameter concrete cylinders cannot be driven deep enough for end bearing support

Many contractors use water-jetting to “lubricate” concrete pressed piles:

Injecting water into expansive soils is ill advised

Using cheap bottle jacks and shims to lift a structure as valuable as your home is not advisable:

Bottle jacks and human power does not compare to a hydraulic synchronized manifold lifting system as used on ECP Steel Piers.

Buyer beware, in times of tremendous drought. There are plenty of high quality foundation repair contractors available that use steel piering methods and will install them at reasonable prices. If you still are not convinced, contact an independent foundation engineer and ask him for his recommendation.

Berklee College of Music was renovating two exsting buildings to make safety upgrades, including the installation of a new elevator. The project involved constructing several new foundations inside the buildings. Deep foundation support was required because this area of Boston was filled-in and the soils conditions were generally unfavorable for conventional spread footings.

Helical Piles: Engineered Foundation Technologies installed a total of 40 ECP helical piles to support the new loads. The pilings advanced through the poor fill soils and anchored into the Boston Clue Clay below. Pile lengths varied from about 18 feet deep to 28 feet deep.

EFT built a load frame and conducted a pile load test on a helical pier. This testing was done to confirm the performance of the helical pier system. The project was successfully completed in 10 working days.